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can't remember if we have covered this...

With all the warm weather we are having, our store has seen its share of "warped" lenses because glasses ("regular" & "sun") are getting left on the ol' dashboard....The quickest fix is to soak the lens in the warm water bath (we use the heated water next to the uv & tints) . After about 20 seconds or so, take the lenses out, place them in a towel, cover, & GENTLY press with the palm of your hand for about 15 seconds; immerse in cold water to "set". I used to try to fix with a hotair warmer (no salt pan, sniff) but this method seems to work better. Of course, I have not & WOULD NOT use this method on A/R coated lenses for obvious reasons....

aha!

supra?? how does that come about??

we call temples temples, except when with a customer, it is then whatever they understand, usually sides, but they are also known as various terms, such as arms, legs, stems, balancers, holders, and of course "those thingies" but this all depends on what the customer says first

:idea: When you have to adjust the ends of temples that are all metal, they will bend quite nicely if you grip them with your soft double rubber jaw pliers. This will also not leave any marks on the temple.

:idea: When you have to shorten a temple by cutting off a piece of the end,always make sure you file it real smooth and not leave any sharp point that might come throught the plastic end tip when you put it back on. You should also file smooth the edge of the plastic end tip as it will typically be ragged after you cut it.

Shortening temples

When you have to shorten a temple by cutting off a piece of the end,always make sure you file it real smooth and not leave any sharp point that might come throught the plastic end tip when you put it back on. You should also file smooth the edge of the plastic end tip as it will typically be ragged after you cut it.

A good shortcut to this is to fire up the diamond hand edger, and turn the temple in your hand this not only smoothes the temple tip, but also allows the tip to taper, allowing an easier insertion into the plastic surround.

Depending on your wheel type this can be done with out affecting the area usually used for lenses, so you can still effectivley hand edge a lens, .........or tools that need sharpening......

Flexon twisted at the bridge.

When Flexon frames get twisted at the bridge they are easy to bring back into alignment. The material that makes them Flexible runs vertically through through the bridge. Sometimes, especially when they are twisted to demonstrate their flexibility, Flexon frames get stuck in a twisted position. To unstick them just twist them all the way back in the opposite direction that they are off plane. They will snap right back into position.

Getting face form in a Flexon frame is tough. If you are looking for just a small amount of curvature you can heat the bridge a little bit and it will be easier to adjust.

Titan Flex

NOTE on titanflex

titanflex needs to be heated to just above 150C for about 2-3 minutes, do not heat on a soldering flame, unless you wish to lose the elasticity, such as in adjusting a temple tip. Using a soldering flame is permanent in taking away the flexibilty.

To lose elasticity the material needs to be heated till red hot, and then the soot marks cleaned off.

When adjusting non-flexing titaniums, or titanium with little flex, extra consideration needs to be taken, as these frames still flex, and just need to be bent a little bit beyond the intended adjustment, to avoid the customers coming back in several days, complaining of a loose frame

Tips on Dispensing

H-m-m-m...dumb stuff I've seen first hand and NOT to be repeated:
1. Vegatable oil used as heat transfer oil in tint unit. Company 'on hold' with everybody (normal?), couldn't get the right stuff. Smells like KFC until the fateful day the oil coagulates and is now gelatenous. New heating elements required, hours of scrapping stuff out of tank and many PO'd co-workers.
2. New lab grunt in effort to impress co-workers with 'can do' attitude trys to clean pulley groove of hand stone (when they were really stone) with shop rag while unit turned on. Rag sucked into pulley, thumb went around pulley 3-4 X's before he reacted. Dislocated thumb and sprained wrist and he never cried!
Adrenaline? Mentally dislocated?
3. Use of bolt(s) from Home Depot as generator diamond wheel mounting bolt. If it ain't Grade 8 or better and NOT double threaded, don't use.

After 30 years doin' frame adjustments I have no feeling in my left index finger between 2nd and 3rd joint for all the times I've run a screwdriver through it. I know to use a sharp table edge as backup...really...no, really... repeat after me, "I know to use...

Re: Tips on Dispensing

Originally posted by Duane Metcalfe 3. Use of bolt(s) from Home Depot as generator diamond wheel mounting bolt. If it ain't Grade 8 or better and NOT double threaded, don't use.

I would like to add a 3. a. and a 3. b. to this one:
[list=a][*]Make sure the person that bolted the diamond wheel on last actually tightened it to the correct PSI.[*]If, during the operation of the generator, you find that the bolt wasn't tightened down enough, hit the deck. I don't know what the RPM's for generator motors are but when those bolts fly out they can really move.[/list=a]

PRISMS

:hammer: Keep in mind that when you get a prescription for prism base up and down you can split it unevenly. Example Dr. orders 4 up and 4 down. Look at the prescription and see what power you have in the 90 meridian in both lenses. If there is a large imbalance you may want to split it 5/3, rather then 4/4. This will make your edge thicknesses appear more even.

:finger: Keep in mind when any patient walks in with a Z-87 frame you cannot and should not put in 2.0 dress thickness lenses. These will usually be the types that will say i,m not in the factory anymore, assume that they are.
I would not post this next one if i had not seen it hunderds of times. You cannot put a safety thickness lens in a regular opthalmic frame and tell a person they are safety glasses. If they are industrial safety glasses they have to be in a safety, marked z-87 frame, with 3.0 lenses.

:hammer: In order to keep your rimless groover operating at it s best, it needs to be cleaned out of all water and junk every night. After you have completely washed it out and dried it, turn it on and let the wheel spin for about a minute. This will dry off any excess water, that will eventually rust the grooving blade, and you wont have to replace it so often.

spring hinges

:o For some reason spring hinges seem to constantly come in from the manufactures with some kind of resin or dirt in them, which becomes even worse with age. Before you dispense it clean out the spring hinge good with several squirts of alcohol. Quite often you will even feel it work smoother.
The same is true with your temple hinges, if you loosen the screw and give it a few squirts of alcohol, itr will be clean and work better.

:D Any time you are dispensing industrial safety glases, and have to supply side sheilds, always supply the side sheild that was designed by the manufacture for that frame. Any thing else could be used against you should the side sheild fail. Also forget about those little flimsy 1.00, one size fits all, slide over the temple type side sheilds. They are not legal if side sheilds are a requirement.

When a customer brings in one of those already made up in plano lenses, safety glasses and wants an rx put in them, think. Most of them although marked z-87 were never tested or approved for prescription lenses, but rather only for plano lenses. You can usually identify these type frames as they will seldom if ever have a lens and bridge size stamped on them. If your not sure call the manfacturer.

Photogray/PhotoBrown

When replacing only one lens in Photochromic Glass, the lab will tell you they can't be matched. Place old lens in the salt pan, heat well, it will lighten up to virgin color, then both lenses will start from scratch.

:finger: Anytime you are replacing only one glass lens, take a good look at the other lens. If it has any kind of substantial scratching, try to replace it , as it is virtually useless from the impact resistance standpoint. Even if you have to give them a discount on the other lens it is well worth it, as it may save a fuure lawsuit.

Wow, this thread has been going on a long time and alot of great info here, I don't know if this was mentioned yet, when making new lenses for an old zyl frame prior to tracing the frame and edging the lenses try to get the frame back to it's original form as close as possible, every time another set of lenses is used in a zyl frame the frame usually gets stretched more and more, getting it back to original shape and size makes it less likely to break.
Rich R

Dispensing tips

Great discussion folks!
Try this one, that alot of people foget to do. Pre adjust the frame before measuring for a seg height. Also, Please don't push the envelope too much on progressives, the lens manufacturers do alot of research before making a minimum requirement suggestion. You should also have about 14 mm's above the fitting cross when fitting most progressives, when you get less than that, there isn't really enough for distance viewing. Have a good day folks

:idea: I thought i would cover the correct way to mark up round segs for edging, more especially for some of the newcomers, in the business. If the round seg is a cylinder lens then you lay it out on axis and fit the bifocal between the lines after setting the total decentration. If the lens was ground correctly your center dot will be in where its suppose to be.........................................
.........The problem come with sphere only lenses. First after you dot the lens up in your vertometer, wipe off the two end dots as the center dot is all you will need. Now lets say the decentration is distance 2.5 in and seg 1.5 in, a total of 4 in. Next set the total decentration at 4 in. Line up the bifocal between the lines as even as you can get and now rotate the lens either right or left, depending on which eye your doing. Rotate it back until the dot is now showing 2.5 in. Now when you stamp the lens with the marking cross you should measure the distance oc at 2.5 in and the total as 4.

Harry, not sure if this has been covered, but we do quite a few bifocals "at the top", like for golfers, which work well for guys that want them for bowling or watching TV in a barcolounger chair. So, it is important that when you have the lab surface the lenses (we get everything uncut), that you order the lens rx's eye for eye backwards, then use the frame shape upside down. Al.